By Botho Molosankwe
.Two siblings at a Durban private school were expelled last week because of the alleged aggressive actions of their father.
In one of SA’s worst serial rape cases, a 35-year old Thokoza man stands accused of raping 64 children over six years.
He also faces 33 counts of attempted murder.
The suspect faces 97 charges in total. That number could increase as there is a likelihood that charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and the pointing of a firearm could be added.
His alleged rape spree started in January 2006 and came to an end when he was arrested in December last year.
The man, who cannot be named before he pleads to the charges, is only two rapes short of Mongezi Samuel Jingxela, who was named SA’s worst serial rapist in 2007. He committed 66 rapes within 10 years.
But while Jingxela raped women whom he lured under the pretext that he would employ them at a factory, all the Thokoza man’s alleged victims are children.
According to court documents, he preyed on children between the ages of nine and 13. He is alleged to have raped them in Thokoza, Brackendowns, Katlehong and Voslorus in a six-year period.
His reign of terror came to an end when one of his victims followed him to his house and the community helped the police arrest him.
Court documents also show that his young victims pointed him out during an identity parade and that his DNA matched that which was found on the rape survivors.
When arrested, he faced only 33 rape charges. However, the number escalated over the months when he was linked to more charges.
On Wednesday, the man, who appeared in the Alberton Magistrate’s Court, was met with hard stares from people in the gallery who included members of the ANC Women’s League and Women and Men Against Child Abuse.
People also picketed outside the court.
With a pink and black school bag on his back and holding a beanie in his hands, the accused looked around the packed courtroom as he emerged from the holding cells.
He stood awkwardly in the dock, glancing around the courtroom to where his mother and sister were seated.
They shielded their faces from the cameras as they left the court.
At the start of his case, he was represented by Golden Moloi, but the attorney has since withdrawn from the case.
The suspect was supposed to apply for bail on Wednesday but prosecutor Albert Dwera told the court that he had abandoned his application.
The matter was postponed to August when the man will get the formal indictment from the Director of Public Prosecutions about the charges he faces.
Other multiple rape trials in the Johannesburg High Court
* Serial rapist Jazzman Rikhotso was handed 17 life terms on May 17 for the rapes of 12 women between April 2008 and August 2010 at Avalon Cemetery in Soweto. He was dubbed the Avalon Serial Rapist.
* A 50-year-old Alexandra man and his 26-year-old son face 21 counts of rape. It is alleged that they drove a taxi through various areas in the north of Joburg, the CBD and Ekurhuleni, where they would offer their victims a lift to their destination before pouncing on them. In most cases, the father would drive the taxi while his son allegedly raped the victim. The victim would later be robbed and then abandoned in open veld.
* A 26-year-old man from Bramfischerville, Soweto, is alleged to have raped nine women in and around Westgate and Roodepoort during 2010. The man, alleged to be a taxi driver, is believed to have picked up women in his white Quantum minibus before assaulting them and forcing them to extort money from them from relatives.
* A 25-year-old Tembisa man is facing eight counts of rape. He allegedly lured the women by promising them jobs. The rapes are alleged to have occurred between April 2007 and May last year. Most of the victims were living in informal settlements in Honeydew, north-west of Joburg. Other victims were attacked in Fourways, Northgate, Cosmo City, Kya Sand and Douglasdale.
botho.molosankwe@inl.co.za
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